Flotsam and Jetsam - The Fauci Fallout

If you weren't out doing something fun or useful yesterday, you probably know by now that former NIH Director Anthony Fauci made a long appearance at the Senate Homeland Security committee led by Rand Paul, where, as I pointed out yesterday, other than an opening statement saying Rand Paul had it in for him (true, but for good reasons), he said almost nothing, other than to take the 5th amendment 111 times to Republican questions ranging from pointed to ridiculous (what color is your tie?), while receiving tongue bath from Democrats loyal to the Covid lockdown regime. If you need to count them for yourself you can find the whole sordid affair at from sundance at CTH, Dr Anthony Fauci Testifies Before Senate Homeland Security Committee or at Althouse, Fauci invokes the 5th Amendment privilege at the Senate hearing today. Ace, Deep State Mafia Boss Anthony "Little Bones" Fauci Pleads the Fifth, "This is what I thought he would do. But now I wonder if he has any legal right to invoke the Fifth." Matt Vespa at TownHall, So, That's Why Fauci Pled the Fifth, Despite a Blanket Pardon From Biden, state charges? No, that's just the excuse. He just didn't want to own up to all his Covid shenanigans. John Ocasio-Rodham Nolte @NolteNC, "This also states it well... The pardon put Fauci in a position where he could either testify truthfully and face no prosecution, or invoke the Fifth and face a contempt charge. Obviously, Fauci decided telling the truth was more dangerous (even with no fear of prosecution) than facing prosecution with a contempt charge. Why? That's the question." Quote Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney, "Pleading the 5th is tricky, legally, because Fauci is pardoned for all pre-2025 conduct — fear of a future perjury trap is a lot to hang a blanket assertion of 5th Amendment privilege on. And it also opens him up to being held in contempt and prosecuted on that basis." The Vigilant Fox @VigilantFox, "PAUL: "Dr. Fauci, would you like to at least answer this one question for us today...?" FAUCI: "On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline..." PAUL: "The chairman has DENIED your assertion of privilege and directed you to ANSWER, but you nonetheless refuse and stand on privilege despite the existence of the pardon." "It's AGAINST THE LAW to obstruct an investigation of Congress. There will be repercussions to your refusal to testify today." Sean Davis @seanmdav, "Rand Paul did the impossible today: he found a way to make Anthony Fauci not talk. Rand Paul got the world’s most promiscuous media whore to suddenly not want to be on camera behind a microphone." Secretary Kennedy @SecKennedy, "Dear Diary... If I plead the Fifth, will I still be famous?" Pradheep J. Shanker, M.D.@neoavatara "Its over." Quote Senator Rand Paul @SenRandPaul, "Fauci claims he is pleading the Fifth because of my so-called “obsession” with prosecuting him and because I released his "private" diary. The American people know better. He is protecting himself. There is more to this. This is not over." Tim O'Brien at PJM, Fauci’s Disastrous Senate Hearing Signals That It’s Time to Put the Autopen on Trial Through Him. PJM's Stephen Kruiser sighs Regrettably, Anthony Fauci Slept Very Well Last Night.

PJM's Cathy Salgado, Rand Paul Orders Fauci’s Lawyer Removed As Hearing Grows Chaotic. From News Wax, Fauci Solicited Award Noms From NIH-Funded Scientists, for awards with cash prizes. At Hat Hair, Capt Ed quotes Hawley to Fauci: 'You Got Rich, Didn't You … While People Were Dying?' Matt Van Swol @mattvanswol, "If you only watch ONE video from the Fauci hearing today, it should be this one... Bernie Moreno: "It was about six years ago today that I decided I'm going to give up my businesses, sell them all, run for office, run for the United States Senate. Here I am sitting in front of you six years later, saying, "Who the fuck do you think you are for doing that?" It is a total disgrace what you did to this country and my Democrat colleagues are standing there defending you...." RazörFist @RazorFist, "2020: The Science™ is settled 2021: Trust the Science™ 2022: Sorry you lost your job for not trusting The Science™ 2023: We have recalled The Science™ from the market 2026: The Science™ pleads the 5th." Bridget Phetasy @BridgetPhetasy, "My biggest takeaway from this Fauci stuff is that we aren't mad enough."

Matt Vespa, TMZ Had a Total Meltdown Over the Attacks on Fauci...and They're Not Alone. Brad Polumbo @brad_polumbo, "Never forget they literally made action figures of this man..." Drew Holden at Holden Court thinks Legacy Media’s Fauci Love Affair Might’ve Buried COVID’s Origins, "Ahead of the doctor's public testimony, making sense of what the dominant press helped to keep buried." PoIiMath @politicalmath, "If there was another Covid-style pandemic, it would probably be because scientists were carelessly researching deadly novel viruses in large urban centers." Quote Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan, "It’s very clear, sadly, that if there was another Covid-style pandemic today, the level of total disinformation, misinformation, lies, cherry-picked quotes and documents, and conspiracies on this hellsite would mean tens of millions, not just millions, of dead Americans." From Da Caller, Meet The Republicans Who Sided With Anthony Fauci To Shut Down The Country "“Hope Hicks and I convinced him to essentially put Easter on hold for this year,” Fauci wrote." Nick Arama at RedState notices Brandon Gill and Ted Cruz Have a Field Day With James Talarico's Old Fauci Post. Brandon Gill @realBrandonGill, "Do you think James Talarico still plays with his Fauci action figure?" Ted Cruz @tedcruz, "James Talarico called Fauci a superhero. Today, Fauci took the Fifth 111 times. Apparently accountability was sold separately." Leslie Eastman at LI hypes a New Documentary the Asserts Deborah Birx Was Real Culprit Behind Disastrous Covid Lockdowns. "“It Wasn’t Fauci: How the Deep State Really Played Trump” shows how a career bureaucrat seized control of the government and created a disaster. And Birx had help…from Pence." She did kind of slither away unscathed, didn't she. Insty at his substack explains Why Fauci Matters. "He's not just a powerful guy who acted in bad faith. He's a totem to a whole class of people who don't care about that."

I'm of two minds about Fauci. Scientists are allowed to be wrong. It's part of the process of discovery, as long as you change your mind once evidence show it.  But you're not supposed to conspire to blackball those with opposing opinions, and keep up the pretense of being right after you've been proven wrong. And there's the prize stuff, which is just plain corruption. Drew Pinsky put it pretty well here.

Sundance is still following foreign affairs, President Trump Takes Questions From Media, Senate Fan Girls for Zelenskyy then Advances Russian Sanction Bill 86-12 and Finland Plans to Build a New Iron Curtain and block Russian Internet Traffic. Ace, Iran Threatens Lives of First Lady and Barron Trump; Trump Says He'll Kick the Sh** Out of Them "Iran is calling upon its foreign agents to kill Trump's wife and youngest son."

At Am Great, the Great Victor Davis Hanson worries The Socialist Monster Awakens, "The Left’s socialist revolt did not come from nowhere—it was the inevitable offspring of years of Democratic radicalization, now turning against the party that created it." Mark Tapscott at Insty asks IS SOCIALISM A FAD OR FULL-ON THREAT?. "Are the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) just a passing fad or a real, long-term threat to the Democratic Party and ultimately America? That’s the question discussed on the latest edition of the Outstanding podcast by host Casey Harper, The Washington Stand’s Managing Editor for Broadcast, Matt Carpener, chief of Family Research Council (FRC) Action, and yours truly." VodkaPundit at PJM hears 'Welcome to Socialism': A Clinton Hand's Stark Warning About Mamdani "In a piece headlined "Welcome to Socialism," Penn wrote that Mamdani’s administration "with fanfare" released its list of "960,000 owners of real estate in New York City that have been determined they could owe the pied-a-terre tax because NYC computers have determined they own what was billed as a market value of $5 million or more."" NYPo opines Mamdani’s vindictive pied-à-terre hitlist reveals his true colors. I think we already knew his colors, red with a dash of green. John Sexton, Business Groups to Sue Mamdani Over Subsidized Grocery Stores. Govt. subsidized competition. At NYPo, Jonathan Turley opines Mamdani’s grocery stores will be the most expensive markets in NYC — paid for by you, the taxpayer.

Hat Hair's John Sexton wonders Are Democrats Worried About Their Antisemitism Problem?. Nope, they're wallowing in it, and Dave Strom sees El-Sayed is Gaining Strength and Stevens Is Sputtering Out. Victory Girls notice MI Candidate Abdul El-Sayed Maligns PA Senator John Fetterman. Stephen L. Miller @redsteeze, "It's hilarious that you think he's leaving the party and that the party is not leaving him. You continue to be the absolute king of misreading the situation." Quote Chris Cillizza @ChrisCillizza, "I don't know if John Fetterman is going to switch parties. But man he is doing everything that someone who is going to switch parties. Wrote about it here:"

A laugh at Twitchy, Rental Ram Revealed: Talarico Props Up 'Real Texan' Image With Enterprise Rental Truck. Jen Van Laar at RedState is obsessing over Newsom’s Affair, Revisited: New Details, Conflicting Accounts, and 2028 Fallout. Travis Lynch at Am Think thinks (no, not yet) America’s election problem is bigger than the ballot box. James Lindsay, anti-Communist @ConceptualJames, "Republican voters should turn out in this year's midterm elections like President Trump is on the ballot because, once you understand what the Democrats are planning if he loses, you'll understand that he IS on the ballot."

At AMAC, The Left’s Imaginary Food Stamps “Crisis” "SNAP enrollment has dropped by about 4.5 million people over the past year—an 11 percent decline. While critics call this a "crisis" and blame the Trump administration for stripping benefits from needy families, the reduction largely reflects new work requirements and stronger anti-fraud measures under the One Big Beautiful Bill. This article examines the data behind the debate and explains what's really driving the change in food stamp participation."

Twitchy notices Agitators in Madison Use Boards With Nails to Defend Their BLM Encampment, and the City Is Helping. Well, Madison.

Capt. Ed, NYTimes Shocked, Shocked to Find Immigration Enforcement in Airports! Ace, Media Can't Stop Boo-Hoo Whinin' and Cryin' That Trump Is Deporting The Democrats' Best Voters. "Axios: Trump has ramped up self-deportation."

From Ace, MS NOW "National Security Reporter" Took a Luxury All-Expenses Paid Junket Paid for by Communist China's Intelligence Services, Then Wrote Articles Trashing Trump for Criticzing China. "I wrote about Natalie Winters' expose of "journalists" receiving valuable all-expenses paid travel to China and then immediately acting as China's propaganda agents yesterday. Just the News writes about one of these agents of Red China, a former Reuters fake reporter now serving as MS NOW's fake national security reporter." John Sexton, Russia Goes After Telegram's Founder.

The Telegraph opines the Berlin Pride attack shows the insanity of the Left’s love affair with Islamism. Dave Strom sees Jews Are Fleeing...Canada?

At Twitchy, Deranged WNBA Owner Berates Teenage Fans Supporting Fair Play for Women. Dave Strom hears Sophie Cunningham Fans Harassed in Seattle for Standing Up for Women's Rights. From Ace, Department of Education Investigates Minnesota's Use of "Trans Dolls" with Swappable Genitalia to Promote Transgenderism to Young Children "I think it's time to simply eject Minnesota from the United States. It's a diseased appendage that must be cut off to save the rest of the body. It just gets worse and worse every single day." And "Trans" Man Beats Mother to Death With Hammer, "Coming to a girls locker room near you. But how could you keep him out of a women's locker room? As you can see from the photos that run with that story, he looks exactly like a woman. It's uncanny!"

And more from the Wombat at In The Mailbox: 07.28.26 (Evening Edition) and In The Mailbox: 07.29.26.